Halcyon Days
by Tsuki-no-Kurokage
Summary: Kusaka Soujirou can never deny this icy presence within him. His first few months at the academy had been nothing but hell. That is, until he set his eyes on befriending the number one genius of his class: Hitsugaya. /KusaHitsu friendship fic/
1. Prologue

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**Halcyon Days**

**Prologue**

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_It was a never-ending plain of ice, stretching out to the countless of horizons that fell upon this barren piece of land. Not a single blade of grass could thrive, not a single shred of leaves left unfrozen; the harsh winds that drove the land to prosper with the everlasting winter could easily uproot the bare trees and send them flying across, only to have themselves sunken into the freezing waters where the ice above them cracked upon the contact of tree barks falling on it._

_And yet, one lone figure stood upon this desert of ice and snow, eyes glancing out into the darkened heavens which cleared upon his presence being felt. A ray of light shone upon the area his feet stood on, serpentine clouds dispersing. The young boy brought his hands up in front of him, shielding his deep, navy eyes from the blinding beam. As another icy wind breezed past him, threatening to push him off the land which he thought he had trespassed upon, he collapsed to his knees, the sleeves of his kimono flying around wildly._

_The ice beneath him cracked, another ray of light birthed from the core of the earth below. He moved his palm away, a narrowed sapphire orb glistening with frozen beads staring at the scarlet hue giving off its radiance. His vision blurred, slurred mumbles escaping his lips as he felt himself slipping away into the darkness. And just before the snow disappeared from his sight, a voice echoed in the icy domain:_

"_Are you lonely, Soujirou?"_

_Another crack in the ice; he felt himself sinking into freezing waters, bubbles appearing on the surface as the ray of light appeared further and further away from him. Before he could do anything to stop himself,_

"_Yes," his mind called out as everything fell dark._

_The dragon unfurled its wings, taking another soar in the frozen heavens. "Do not worry, Soujirou." With every flap, a rain of ice descended to the plain of ice below, where the hole in which his purple-haired friend fell through was slowly being covered by another layer of ice. "Another dragon will be joining us soon."_

_The snow suddenly ceased to fall._


	2. First Encounter

_There's a possibility these chapters might be awfully short, and updates will take almost forever, so I apologise. Yes, this is a KusaHitsu fic, though more on the Friendship side. There will be a bit of cheesiness (maybe a lot), so…I hope you won't mind. –bites lip- And obviously, I do not own anything except for some scenes I made up myself…I may be using OCs every now and then. This is based on the novel, since I haven't watched the movie yet and I'm not sure if they're slightly different or almost worlds apart. Oh yes, I likened the Shin'ou Reijutsu In to the Gakuen Alice in the anime/manga with the same name, except on a tad bit darker tone. It makes things hella easier to write xD_

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**Halcyon Days 01**

**First Encounter**

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_"...Kusaka-san." Hearing his name being mentioned, the academy student with his deep, royal purple tied in a bun gave a slight jump, shoulders tensing as he turned to face behind; a man, or more like a complete stranger, dressed in a black kimono and a piece of ragged cloth covering the lower half of his face stood as still as a statue, dark hazel eyes staring into Kusaka's very own ocean blue orbs. Hands folded behind his back - there was a zanpakutou attached to his waist, Kusaka noticed - the masked figure turned and tilted his head towards the trees. "Come with me."_

_Unsure of this man's words, the new recruit simply stayed in his position until the shinigami-like figure's shoulders slumped, grabbing onto his hand and forcing him to tag along into the shadows of the trees. Leaves rustling from the cool, morning breeze; the warm radiance of the sunlight shining upon the emerald blades; while twigs snapped upon impact from their feet, only to have the student trip over a large tree root exposed to the atmosphere before stepping onto his other foot. He would've had dragged the man along with him to the soil if not for the fact that he released his hold on his wrist. The back of his head struck against the mud pile and rotting leaves - thank goodness it wasn't one of those rocks he passed by earlier - his purple hair stained with snapped twigs and black patches._

_Kusaka sat up, leaning against the bark of a tree nearby. He sent the man a glare, to which the other did not make much out of it. "What do you want?" Kusaka asked, voice rising._

_"I came here with a gentle reminder from Central 46," the masked figure simply replied, tone calm and evidently not amused by how much of a gangster the new academy student appeared, what with a mud smear across his face as if it were a dried scar from a chopper; he only frowned even more when the younger snorted, mumbling something incoherent under his breath, something about the Central 46 being famous for their gentleness. "You do remember the conditions you agreed to before you came here, don't you?"_

_Kusaka folded his arms, but remained silent._

_"So you do. Well, Central 46 would only like you to keep those conditions in mind. However, there is another condition to add on to them. Now, Kusaka-san...there is an extra price to pay." The adolescent notably flinched, but otherwise still said nothing. He heard the sandal feet dragging themselves across the short distance between them, and the sound of a sword being unsheathed rang throughout the forest. Birds hiding in the tree branches immediately made their escape to the sky, returning to their comfort zone no longer. Kusaka almost growled as the cool metal came into contact with his skin, glaring at the masked figure. "Coming to this academy has been just far too easy for you, and Central 46 is certain that you graduating will be no problem at all. That's the catch here; if you don't want them to resort to drastic measures, you must graduate within a year. To add on to that, you must, by hook or by crook, become a captain within the next fifty years."_

_"C-Captain? But that's..."_

_"Come now, it can't be that hard for someone with such great potential such as you, can it?" Smirking beneath the cloth, the messenger of Soul Society's biggest decision-making force tapped the blade against Kusaka's cheek repeatedly. "Graduation will only take up one of those fifty years, and you'll have the next forty-nine to yourself. I do know for a fact that if you don't adhere to these conditions, Central 46 will take care of the matter personally, and I do know that you don't want that to happen, hmm? Well," he paused, sheathing his zanpakutou. "it has been nice talking to you, Kusaka-san." Turning around, the mysterious figure headed towards where they came from. "I hope we'll meet again."_

"...I hope we won't."

"Sorry? Did you say something, Kusaka-san?"

Kusaka snapped back to the present; taking a quick glance of his surroundings - tables, chairs, boards, and most importantly of all, students - he held back a sigh as relief swept over his features. All pairs of eyes were on him, well, except for one pair but it wasn't like anyone could notice whose it was while being overwhelmed by a sea of confused glances. A tingle shook up the back of his neck when an apparent someone standing next to him cleared her throat. The purple-haired student regrettably turned to his left, only to have a pair of pale blue eyes blazing with fury glancing down at him. "S-Sensei...?"

"Kusaka-san," she began, tone exceptionally sharp; Kusaka almost gulped, blinking at her like a defenceless deer prying its way out of a lion's claws. "While the history of zanpakutou **is** a boring topic we are touching on today, it isn't right to just trot away to your little dreamland, especially in my class. You're unbelievably lucky that your grades are more than acceptable, therefore I will let you off for today. However, if you do not do well for the test on Friday, I will personally see to it that you are moved to the front of the class. Is that understood, Kusaka-san?"

His classmate sitting next to him couldn't help but laugh, only to cower away when the teacher's glare fell upon him instead. With a sigh, Kusaka mumbled, "Hai, sensei..." and apologised for his behaviour softly, while loud enough for her to hear.

She gave a light nod of acknowledgement before walking away from his seat. "All right, now let's continue. I'll begin by explaining how the first zanpakutou came about."

* * *

_...Self-study time is next, huh._

With a sigh, the young child-like student ran his hand through his snow white hair, glancing out of the window. There was almost nothing he could do during that one hour free time before it was time for kidou; in the first place, he was almost expecting more from the Advanced class, especially since the name just gave it away, and prepared everything beforehand, only to learn that not only were they learning at a slower pace than that of the Intermediate class, but also the fact that almost the whole class consisted of total idiots who liked showing off their skills. While they weren't lousy, they could do a bit of touching up because at the rate they were going, they were about to put the name of Advanced to shame.

It was his first day being an Advanced class student, not that he took the entrance exam late, but because of some reason that was completely stupid. He was mistakenly put in the Intermediate class on his first day of school, stuck there for almost a month before someone came along and told him that his grades had been irresponsibly swopped with someone else's. Well, no wonder he saw this guy running down the hallway in tears and screaming at almost every single person that walked past him; it was just so...how would he call it? Oh yeah. Childish.

Hitsugaya Toushirou was one who could not tolerate childish behaviour.

He didn't care how almost everyone in the class poked fun at his hair or made up some lame joke about his height - to which he threatened to beat the ass up of anyone who did that during the next zanjutsu practical - since they were just a bunch of idiots anyway. Everyone was surprised to see a child amongst the class of those who supposedly achieved the highest of results for the entrance exam, spreading baseless rumors like his parents bribing the teachers, or just some kid who wants to show off and begged the teachers to let him into the Advanced class, or even saying that he was a secret long-lost great great great grandson of the soutaichou himself. His first impression of his classmates had already been a terrible one, them coming up to him, and then the first thing they asked 'Excuse me, are you lost, little one? Or are you here to see your big sister?'

It was such a frustrating matter that lingered in his mind, especially since he wasn't introduced to the class yet - really, he just slipped in and sat down so quietly that the person sitting next to him didn't even acknowledge his existence until he heard someone's book flipping open and let out a high-pitched shriek; good thing their homeroom teacher hadn't arrived yet at that time - no one knew who he was or why he was even in the Advanced class. Hitsugaya almost gave a roll of his eyes whenever he answered 'it's none of your business' to just about everyone who asked him about his test scores.

"I'm telling you, this guy's a fake. No way someone of that age can be in the Advanced class."

Hitsugaya simply gave out a sigh, the exhaled air brushing away the few strands of white covering his eyes.

"When I asked him what he got for the entrance exam scores, he didn't even want to tell me! You think he's keeping it a secret or something?"

A soft laugh. "He's probably too ashamed of his results. Hey, for all we know, he got the lowest score out of all of us here. What do you think, Ku--huh? Hey, where'd that guy go...?"

Hitsugaya did not bother to carry on listening to the pointless conversation at the back, and buried himself in the book he borrowed from the school library. In the first place, why was he even eavesdropping on his classmates? It wasn't like he was worried about being ostracized or anything close to that, though a bit of tame interaction would be alright every once in a while. Blinking at the kanji printed on the pages of the book, he flipped it over and checked the title. Rubbing away the dust on the deep, ocean blue cover, his eyes narrowed at the title. 'The Values of Friendship'. Great. Just what he needed.

Resisting a moan, the white-haired pupil closed the book shut, sticking in a piece of scrap paper as a bookmark, and left it aside before gazing out of the window once more. Though the fact still remained that he borrowed that book, it wasn't the book he intended to carry along with him for self-studying period. He had already prepared the book on the history of kidou, as well as the various aspects such as hadou and bakudou, just to gear himself up for the demon arts practical, but somehow, for some reason, it had swopped with that of the friendship book - he thought with a slight twitch - which had no relation to kidou whatsoever. The pre-teen didn't even know what in the world possessed him to borrow that book; perhaps he had mistaken it with the article on how to establish and foster lasting relationships with one's zanpakutou. After all, he did get lost in the Zanpakutou section.

The reason he didn't check the title beforehand was due to the fact that the librarians on duty assured him that they did not make a mistake in shelving the reading materials, one of them going up to him and simply removed the book of average thickness, handing it over to him and telling him that this was the book he was looking for. Just as he was about to check it, she took the tower of books off his hands and sent it in for the approval for him to borrow them. With the sea of the human encyclopaedia-thick paperbacks flooding his room in the (ridiculously far corner of the) males' dormitory sorted out as quickly as he could, Hitsugaya then looked for the book he wanted to read during class, but it just turned out to be otherwise, unfortunately for him.

Sighing, he watched as the lease of nature respired before him. The swallows and doves soaring the pale, blue blanket; the glaring rays from the sun dazzling just like any other afternoon; various patches of white sewn on that blanket, moving together as if in a herd; the glistening emerald of grass blades bending backwards, row by row, as a breeze swept across them; and there, a lone butterfly of wings so pale and dainty, struggling to keep up against the wind, staggered in the air towards the window. Hitsugaya blinked, gluing his eyes to the fluttering snow white wings falling to the window pane, notably folding against the creature's small frame; it was such a petite little creature, almost the size of the tip of his last finger. He didn't know butterflies of this size existed.

Inquisitively, the white-haired boy noiselessly let a gap form between the window frame and the pane, allowing the butterfly to safely perch on his finger. Just as he heard rushing footsteps gaining a distance closer to him, the Junrinan child closed the window shut and hid his finger underneath the table, occasionally glancing at the wings slowly moving up and down in a somewhat hypnotic manner, its antennae twitching slightly as if trying to seek comfort from the shadows. "Oi, what do you think you're doing!?" Just as Hitsugaya turned to face whoever had yelled at him, assuming that he was caught in the act, all he saw were a few studious students flipping pages of their respective handbooks, with no one standing with a frustrated or a 'ha, I caught you!' look.

Giving a shrug of his shoulders, Hitsugaya held the hand out into the light, staring at the nearly translucent wings that were livelier than before. Ah, there it was, a little line across the part where the wing grew from the main body. His emeralds glued themselves to the scenery outside; no blades were arching their backs nor swaying in their usual dance routine. He wondered if it would be alright to let the butterfly go while the wind wasn't present, but there was nothing he could do for it. He gave the wings an extremely gentle stroke, keeping his usual indifferent expression, and let the butterfly go, making an attempt to ascend towards the sky.

He failed to notice the purple-winged butterfly that flew along with it.

* * *

"K-Kojiku-san? What are you doing?"

"Be quiet, bun head! Come with me!"

Unable to wriggle his wrist out of the blonde's hold, Kusaka sighed and allowed himself to be carried wherever his classmate wanted to bring him to. They stopped right outside of class, the deep, reddish orange orbs sending him a glare before taking a glimpse of the entire class from the door, and then Kojiku dragged him further away from the light. Seemed as if the blond adolescent-like didn't want their conversation to be heard, particularly by someone - Kusaka could tell as much when he caught his friend's eyes narrow upon looking at the tuft of white hair, standing out from the crowd - and pressed a finger against his lips, shaking his head violently. Kusaka brought up his last three fingers, his index and thumb forming an 'o', and resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

Sure, it had been a month since his entrance to the Shin'ou Reijutsu In, and around that time, he had met the orange-eyed blonde known by all as Kojiku Megurou _(ko-small; jiku-axis; megu(mi)-blessing)_ and while they did not become fast friends, they were, however, close enough to study for tests together. Most of the time, Kusaka was by himself, but if a test was coming up - which was ultimately inevitable - Kojiku would drag his big-brained friend along with him back to his room and they would begin sharing their own knowledge about the topic raised. But then again, the class was full of bootlickers that attempted to befriend those who excelled as well as received the top of the top for the entrance examination, and Kusaka couldn't say that it was much different for the youngest son of the Kojiku family (they were pretty well-known around the parts of Northern Rukongai).

And as such for being part of the bootlicker company, Kojiku was overprotective of the genius he had as a comrade. Kusaka wasn't that dumb to figure out that the reason why everyone gave him weird looks was due to the fact that the blonde liked spreading word that the two of them were the best of friends in the Advanced class. Even the Second Years had heard the rumour; a group of them visited the class during break time to learn more about this Kusaka Soujirou who was said to be the best of the First Year recruits that year, and every time someone even attempted to think about knowing a bit more about him, Kojiku would make his fabulous entrance and drag his purple-haired 'friend' away, most likely to keep him from interacting with those who wanted to make use of his intelligence, Kusaka concluded.

Somehow, perhaps that greedy streak activated when Kojiku noticed how Kusaka was staring at their new classmate.

"Dude, seriously, what were you thinking!? You disappeared to wherever you were, and then I find you walking over towards that white-haired guy who claims to be our new classmate!"

"Isn't it obvious?" Kusaka peeped at Hitsugaya who was busy looking out of the window again. "I want to be friends with him."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait...say what? Friends?" Kojiku gave out a moan and slapped himself on the forehead. "Have you gone nuts, Kusaka? I mean, just look at him. He's half your size, his hair is freakishly white, his eyes are like a demonic green and--forget it, okay? There's no way a freak like him and a genius like you can get along. You know what everyone says about him; for all we know, he might've gotten in here through some illegal means or something! No one this young has ever entered the Shin'ou Reijutsu In before, and you know it!"

"Of course I know it. All the more I want to be friends with him!" Sapphires blazed rather dangerously as Kusaka snapped his head to glare at the number one bootlicker of the class. He tried to keep his voice low, but found that it was hard to do so. "I don't care how he appears on the outside; it's the inside that counts. Besides, I think he's really lonely." Pausing, he looked back at the sighing white-haired child, and frowned when he flipped the book open with such heavy reluctance while occasionally glancing at a bunch of classmates laughing together. "It would be nice if he had a friend..."

"And what makes you think you can be that friend?"

Answering to Kojiku's challenge, Kusaka smiled, and said, "Because I want to, and I have a feeling that he wants to, too." He instantly ignored the snort and the mumbling of 'no such thing as sixth sense', keeping his gaze on the tuft of snow white hair unbroken. There was something about this boy, something...out of the ordinary. Kusaka could tell that he wasn't what any of his (stupid) classmates had said, but he just didn't know why that he was feeling this way.

Maybe...

"Hey, you do know they're gonna post the list of excellent students later, right?" Kojiku's voice snapped him back from his chain of thoughts. "I bet you're gonna be on that list, Kusaka. So tell you what, let's strike a deal: if you and that little kid over there can get into that list three times, including this time round, I'll let you do whatever you want with him. Just don't regret it later."

"...I definitely won't." With that said, Kusaka turned back and gazed at the sparkling emerald eyes. _If those eyes are scary...then these morons' idea of petrifying must be of a kid wearing a white sheet over him and claiming that he's a ghost. _He thought with an inward smirk. _Now, all I need to know is his name..._

"Hey! Look over here! The list is out!"

Kusaka turned, watching as everyone from the class - except for the white-haired boy he had his eyes on, of course - dash out of the classroom like those who were escaping from an asylum, staying in his standing position outside while watching the small tuft of hair bouncing as the owner of such amazingly pure hair took his time with walking at a perfectly comfortable pace. Kusaka, too, began walking in the direction where the main noticeboard was; well, whoever this new classmate of his was, he must be pretty interested to know about the results as well, probably wanting to know if any of the fools in their class actually made it to the top of the month, Kusaka thought, resisting the urge to smile. His mind drifted back to the bet he didn't even agree to; well, maybe waiting for another two more months wouldn't be that bad...would it?

As the two of them reached the main hall, where all of the 1st Years gathered, Hitsugaya (whose name was unknown to practically everyone in the class) managed to squueze his way through effectively, Kusaka watched with amazement. The way he simply slipped through the gaps when he had the chance to...perhaps being young and short wasn't all that bad in itself.

Sucking in a deep breath, the tall, lean figure who was determined to make the child his good friend, too, tried to enter the sea of students, with the exception that he was not exactly someone who resorted to violence so openly and was easily kicked out, literally, in a matter of a few seconds. Not giving up, Kusaka dove in again, this time giving the people around him a light push as he strained to get up to the front. As the crowd began to disperse, most faces being utterly sullen while the rest were simply either of happiness or of indifference, Kusaka picked up the pace and finally reached the front where the young white-haired student stood, near gaping at the list pinned up on the board.

Kusaka glanced up, looking under the heading; the name right next to number two had been his own.

"This..." he turned towards the soft voice right next to him; _wow, so this is his voice, huh... _He was, to say the least, given a pleasant surprise upon hearing how his new classmate's voice sounded like, given the fact that he was just so quiet in class that he made no sound throughout the lessons, Kusaka noticed. Unbeknownst to Hitsugaya that Kusaka was watching him, eyelids fell over the emerald orbs as a sigh escaped his lips. "Forget it..." he muttered to himself, scratching the back of his head as he walked away, presumably back to class.

With the purple-haired First Year being the only one left, he took another glance at the list, this time taking note of the name that was nicely positioned right above his. Kusaka turned to look at the retreating back figure of Hitsugaya, and couldn't help but smile. "Hitsugaya Toushirou...eh," he muttered to himself, voice barely above a whisper. "I'll be looking forward to knowing more about you."


	3. Trick of Fate

_Well, here we go again. After some careful planning, this story will be at least fifteen chapters long. I may or may not make it go beyond that, but there will be some surprises along the way. All I want, however, is for readers to enjoy the chapters. Alright, I won't say any more; I do not own Bleach, obviously. This is just a figment of my imagination. Um...one thing to note: from my perception, one hallway here is around fifty to a hundred rooms. Yeah, it's pretty vague, since I haven't really decided..._

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**Halcyon Days 02**

**Trick of Fate**

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It hadn't been a week since Hitsugaya's arrival at the Advanced class, but potential rumours and lies began to propegate ever since the so-called geniuses of the Shin'ou Reijutsu In first laid their eyes on the white-haired Rukongai child who only recently made his grand appearance. Despite the presence of such bad talk, Kusaka still kept his inquisitiveness high and going, and would occasionally glance at the seemingly soft and spongy tuft of snow white hair during lessons, which would get him into the hot soup whenever a teacher caught him in the act.

In all honesty, the violet-haired adolescent didn't care.

Once too often, he had been given warnings of all kinds, say, 'pay attention in class or else go straight out of the class and don't come back until I tell you to'. In overly dramatic situations, he was told to pick from three options which were conveniently moulded into multiple-choice question form, one of which involved him getting a bouquet of flowers for their elusive classmate. No one in the right frame of mind would even attempt that when he only knew about the white-haired student's presence less than five days ago.

From the corner of his navy blue orbs, Kusaka would often catch Hitsugaya flipping through the pages of the books while the teacher was spewing complicated words that not many students could comprehend, as if he were trying to study ahead of the curriculum and, perhaps, experiment on his hypothesis that if he were to study beforehand, he would be able to understand the lesson. Seldom, however, did the 'stalker' notice the paler and younger one fight against his exhaustion before finally succumbing to his eyelids and lie down on the table, sound asleep only a minute later. Undoubtedly, the teacher would come over and try to shake him awake but to no avail.

And it was either deja vu all over again, or Kusaka was the one dreaming the scene; but Hitsugaya had fallen asleep during class. Yet again.

That marshmallow-like hair, which stood out of the crowd, was all the curious Kusaka could spy from his seat, lying face flat on the table and gently shifting about like blades of grass caught in a smooth, cool breeze. The _tensai shounen_, as everyone dubbed him, was fortunate enough that he was napping away free period, otherwise his records might be tainted should he be caught for the fifth time in a row. It was, thus, highly advised for classmates to wake him up whenever the poor child looked as if he was about to slip into the oblivion of his own mind again but it didn't seem like he would awaken until his own body wanted him to. In an attempt to keep his side of the deal, Kusaka was somewhat forced to go against his conscience and leave the younger alone with his dreams.

The month passed like it never happened. Each day was filled with surprises of boredom, led by the stuck up rich boy known as Kojiku Megurou. It was the same old trick up his sleeve twenty-four seven, but even so, the smarter of the two couldn't help fall into the parasite's trap. His failed attempts at picking the bug off his shoulders only acted as a fuel for it to continue its self-proclaimed job. Soujirou was...mortified, to say the least. He didn't know if it was psychological or not, but he was finding himself awakening to a deathly pale face with tangled deep, purple strands of hair dangling by the sides. It took him ten minutes longer than before to crawl out of bed, and even longer to tidy his hair up into the usual bun he wore.

It was blatantly evident that Kojiku's bloodsucking adventures were taking a huge toll on the pitiful host. Kusaka was about as pale as Hitsugaya was, which wasn't just worrying for him, but also for the instructors. The principal merely dismissed it as a 'phase geniuses like them go through' and made up the lousy excuse with their grades as proof. It was a challenge itself to deny the principal's words - especially since he was the head captain of the Gotei 13 - and the teachers let the matter rest when they reluctantly came to a consensus to leave the two of them be. As long as their grades weren't affected, it shouldn't be too worrying a matter.

The twosome didn't fail them.

Kusaka's exceptionally warm smile sent Kojiku running off to the private room, an indication of who the true victor for the month was. Hitsugaya came in top not only of the class, but also of the entire level for the second time in a row with Kusaka not far behind him in second place. To the leech's astonishment, the rumours which tarnished the white-haired child's reputation died as quickly as the new rumours of him being promoted to the next grade came. Those rumours became the talk of the entire school not long after.

Despite it all, however, Kusaka didn't seem to be bothered by the current affairs. As usual he would be caught staring 'into space' and given a warning or two about his distractive behaviour. It didn't take the teachers very long before they noticed the young prodigy sound asleep on his desk again, and when Hitsugaya was given the so-called final warning, Kusaka never saw him sleeping in class since.

* * *

Days flew by like seconds. And as time ticked in a seemingly never-ending rhythm, it lulled the bright yet temperamental violet-silked adolescent into a deeper abyss of curiosity and interest in the young, white-haired boy's matters. A mere two weeks and he was certain he would be able to close the deal and quickly make the tensai more comfortable in class (at the rate he was going, it looked as if the prodigy was hiding within himself and not caring about his classmates). Just two more weeks, he chanted inwardly. _Just two more weeks_.

The teacher-in-charge fiddled with the brush on his desk, reading out the names on the register like reading a scroll on the history of Soul Society. As he arrived at the very name which just so happened to have the wintry characteristic, he paused, and sealed a sigh away from the students. "Hitsugaya Toushirou, I have..._heard _about the unfortunate incident involving your room at the dorms." The statement caught the attention of all students on the brink of napping. Aforementioned ice prince resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the recollection of the incident and didn't bother to make any comment on whatever the bespectacled instructor had mentioned.

"We have discussed it amongst ourselves, and Waru-sensei has kindly offered to open another room for temporary convenience purposes. We will conduct a thorough investigation on what happened to your current room and arrive at a final decision, but until then, how does..." Pausing in mid-sentence, the towering man flipped through the pages of the proposal handed in and fingered the four digits on the final page. "...Room 2112 sound? It might be a hassle to move anything that wasn't caught in the incident over a hallway's distance away but it's the best we can offer."

"...I understand. I'll take it," Hitsugaya replied after an attempt to find his voice.

"Good. I expect to see more from you when you're done moving. In the meantime, try not to be distracted. I don't want to see you fall below your present standard of work because of a trivial matter concerning your room. After all, it will be experienced **many** times during your **shinigami days**, so you'll have to get used to it sooner or later." With him rubbing emphasis on the fact, the chattering students immediately zipped their mouths shut and made a mental note to themselves never to pick at their youngest schoolmate while in the presence of their homeroom teacher again.

* * *

_Room 2112, huh. There can't be any better room than that._

The thought resonated in a certain pair of minds as they walked down the hallways towards their respective rooms, one trailing behind the other. Contemplative, ocean blue jewels glinted at the tuft of marshmallow white hair bouncing and halting before a room with an indent of the numbers carved on its door. With a sigh, Hitsugaya held onto the edge of the door and tugged it open, ignoring the dust bunnies invading his dull, teal eyes. Kusaka could only wear his trademark smile and stifle his chuckle as he entered the room which belonged to him and steal one last glance at the leaving figure of his potential friend-cum-rival.

He closed the door to his room, which had the numbers 2212 beautifully engraved on it.


End file.
